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Nathan Valentino, 31, received 15 years to life in prison at his sentencing for felony child molestation on Monday in a Visalia courtroom.
He pleaded guilty on May 31 in a case for which he was arrested in January 2020.
According to the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office, Valentino inappropriately touched a girl at a library in Visalia.
The case was prosecuted by supervising deputy DA Laura Jackson following an investigation by Visalia police officer Michael Morgantini.
Valentino’s criminal history in Tulare County goes back to 2010 and includes previous sex crime convictions.
A DA’s office news release stated that Valentino was convicted of felony child molestation in 2019 and was ordered to register as a sex offender. He also has three misdemeanor sex convictions from 2015 and 2019.
ABC30 reported that in early 2017, Valentino was found incompetent to stand trial and was sent to Atascadero State Hospital. Later that year, he was declared mentally competent.